50+ Masters Training and Racing Open Forum

Had a go on Thursday, at some sustained sprinting work for the first time since comeback.

6x200m with 2 min/200m jog 36.3, 35.4, 33.6, 35.5, 34.7, 32.8

Fairly happy as a few weeks back it felt like my legs were going everywhere when I was running 18 secs for 100m.

First time I've tried that sort of thing since I was 56 (four years ago) - at that stage I could do 8-10 around 33+, but I don't think those days are coming back!

Hoping it will make 40is per 200m pace feel easy when I try some longer reps!

Thought I'd share an observation regarding weight that is interesting to me, and possibly to some of you.

I did my best running 26 years ago at age 33, at a weight of about 105. I then got injured, quit running, gained about 20 pounds, and then gradually got back into running and slowly lost most of it. Over the past 15 years my weight has been creeping upward very slowly, from about 110 in my early 40s to 115 at age 59. This spring I was running well, about 70 mpw, and fighting to keep my weight below 115. Then in late May my Achilles tendon blew up again and I had to almost quit running. Between late May and early August I've been running no more than 20 mpw, but doing a lot of work on the bike. In a week when I don't run at all, I typically ride close to 240 miles.

The surprise? Without changing my diet, I have lost an honest 3 pounds during that 12-week period. (I may be the only person you've ever heard of who has to quit running due to injury and loses weight!) I can only conclude that because the cycling takes more time than the running did I am burning more calories, even though 70 miles of running seems quite a lot harder than 240 miles of cycling.

Anyone else have similar experiences?

amkelley,

I am running four days a week, about 15-30 miles. The rest of the week I am walking, swimming or spin biking another 4.5-6 miles. The combination is working better for weight control than recent years when I was running more. Like you I think the additional hours aerobic is the difference.

Igy

Ghost of Igloi wrote:

amkelley,

I am running four days a week, about 15-30 miles. The rest of the week I am walking, swimming or spin biking another 4.5-6 miles. The combination is working better for weight control than recent years when I was running more. Like you I think the additional hours aerobic is the difference.

Igy

Oops I meant 4.5-6 hours....

He also impersonated me on this thread.

3/4 warmup

3 x 100 14.3 13.7 13.25

2 x 300 negative. 200m+ easy walk/jog between- turn-straight-turn

33.7/14.8 (48.5) 32.7/14.5 (47.2)

3 x 150 21.65, 20.67, 19.74

1/2 mile easy barefoot infield.

2 laps of jog turns, sprint straights

600 meters easy.

3.25 miles- almost a mile of speed.work

Thanks for the well-wishes for Toronto's North America, Central America & Caribbean Champs.

Always a competitive field in the M50 & M55 age-group distance races. The NCC 1500 was yesterday where we all had to deal with a 2-hour delay from T-storms and, I must say, sloppy meet management. Never a good thing when you warm-up 2hrs early and then again & again only to be delayed. Alas, once the gun goes off we are all in the same boat. Love that about Masters Track.

Best result was our man RENO who after 6 years of injury and zero racing scored a massive Bronze in M50 1500m at age M54. Stellar time of 4:38!

I was a happy old man too. I battled my doubting mind after two sluggish laps. Seriously, that damn devil was on my shoulders yelling in my ears "drop-out, quit, this sucks and you know it!". And then, viola! you're suddenly at the bell lap with just one turn away from a long kick to go. I was 4th at 1200m. I made a bold move with 250 to go trying to chase down my friend Connor O'Driscoll. No chance. But did hang on in the strong wind for that BRONZE. And you know I'll take it. As well as a seasonal best 4:47 for M57.

800 for both of us tomorrow. Thanks for reading. KP

Good job. It was the KP workout magic.

Igy

The English coach Frank Horwill used to tell of a runner who was something like a 4:05 miler. When on a cycling trip to France where they were racking up serious miles. Lost 10 lbs, came back and broke 4 mins.

Amkelley, just got back from vacation, and being away from the fridge (FREE FOOD!) actually let me lose 3 pounds, even though we were eating out more! About the same mileage for me, too! So, I am ready to leave home and stay on vacation routinely! (not serious!).

amkelley, when I tore my shoulder last summer I had been into a diet change for about three months (due to high blood sugar and cholesterol). Within days after my surgery I was back on the exercise bike, and a few weeks later a mix of walking, elliptical, and bike (6-8 hours a week total for about 4 months. I lost a couple pounds in that time, whereas with my old diet I'd have gained at least 5. I'm running at 2006-8 levels this year and that's largely due to diet and being 6-8 lbs lighter than in years past.

Mike Lundgren wrote:

Amkelley, just got back from vacation, and being away from the fridge (FREE FOOD!) actually let me lose 3 pounds, even though we were eating out more! About the same mileage for me, too! So, I am ready to leave home and stay on vacation routinely! (not serious!).

I almost always lose weight when I travel, for the same sort of reason. Even though I can't eat as "healthy" as when I'm home, at home I can eat almost constantly while I can't do that when constrained to eat only at restaurants.

Oddly, my husband's weight balloons whenever he has to travel and eat at restaurants. I never can figure that out.

Igy,

As your age group peer I will miss your training thoughts and experiences if you decide to take an understandable break from the disturbed individual who disrupts our otherwise pleasant training and competition discussions.

I still have to finish my coffee and get out the door for my last run of the week before I report on this week's efforts :>)

Stay healthy and keep training well!

Super cool when after nearly 50 years in the sport, one has a 'career moment'...in my case, it was doing a training session this week on the historic Iffley Road track...yup, THE Oxford track that was the scene of Roger Bannister's sub four minute mile breakthrough...WAY way too awesome for words...right up there with Friday night's W3000 steeple 1-2.

Aside from the 'Bannister' moment, I snuck in 40 old man miles including a handful in Hyde Park and the remainder in Battersea Park.

Cavorty, I really appreciated your mention of Frank Horwill ( British Miler's Club)...in fact, one of my travel mates to these London World Championships coached alongside Frank..Horwill's ashes are spread at the 1500 meter start of the track in Battersea...where he coached and where I ran about half of this week's mileage

Am way psyched for tonight's finals...the last of these Games...hope that you all are enjoying them as much back in the USA as we are here in Great Britain.

warmest regards

MF

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Week 323

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Greetings, 50+ers! A lot went on last week on the boards both good and bad. I'm stepping around some stuff and focusing on what matters.

So sorry to read about the injuries SCgal and dhaaga, really frustrating, isn't it? But we know we'll get over these things and get back to it. Remain positive and resolute, my friends.

Nice race 15K, Allen1958, I think you're solidly on target for your marathon goal; nice races on the track, Igy; and as I mentioned already, solid 1500's KP and Reno...good luck in today's 800. Oldhamdog, your always a winner when you get out there and put forth your best effort, so kudos. Nice race, racerdb, even if you felt it wasn't your most inspired effort. Coyote Montane is still throwing down some scary good workouts. And MikeF continues to taunt us with his London adventure. The Women's Steeplechase had to be the highlight of the meet for us Americans; I can only imagine how thrilling it was to experience it live and in person.

For me, just three days of a few miles of walk/run each outing, plus a lot more yard work this weekend. Knee cramping is slowly subsiding, but it's pretty clear that my hips are weak (could really tell after mowing the overgrown lawn yesterday,) and are the natural cause for this recent knee pain (that and excessive weight.) I think this past month+ has finally pushed me to where I'm willing to get back to doing more core exercises; the one's that I'd abandoned after the abdominal tear several years ago.

OK. That's enough rambling from me. Hope you're having a good week!

All the Best!

Greetings to all. Looking forward to the the last day of the WC. I've spent some serious time in couch potato mode this past week. I did get out some though and had a decent week, but I did shut things down a bit early yesterday when I developed a slight calf cramp. My story...

Sun: AM walk 2 mi; PM golf (walk9) 44

Mon: 53' jog w/ 1 mi utility pole fartlek (2on/2off), body wt ex

Tues: golf (walk9/ride9) 94

Wed: 53' jog, body wt ex

Thu: golf (walk9/ride9) 100

Fri: off

Sat: 48' jog, body wt ex

Have a good week, all!

Thanks for keeping this thread going lucKYy2b and for taking the high road. So, being from the mountains, I shall follow suit. This thread has been great for 6-7 years now and overwhelmingly is a bastion of positive contribution, in an otherwise maw of you don't know quite know what you'll get but it's often not so positive. I enjoy the updates from other 50+ runners and some on the cusp, like cush and others in their 40s.

Last week was 72 miles and I think 3 of the past 5 have been over 70. This was a taper-race week for me because the half was a goal effort and a bit of revenge because I got injured a year ago, just when I was set up to do this event.

M - 7 easy

T- 6.5 miles AM with fartlek (6 reps at 5K effort or a bit faster, 45 sec to 1:15) and a few short pick ups of 20 sec. 5 miles PM

W - easy 8

Th - off

F - easy 5, felt tired!

S - half marathon goal race. goal was sub 1:20 (& state age group record). I didn't think I'd have it, but kept a steady pace. Hurt zone hit by 9 but I hung with some younger runners (well mostly just behind them) and kept pace to finish in 1:19:18.

Su - easy 5, slept horribly, awake a 4 AM.

51 for the week

Next week will be about recovery and I'll take another day off tomorrow and just run easy through the weekdays, a moderate workout on Saturday and a longer run on Sunday.

Coyote Montane wrote:

S - half marathon goal race. goal was sub 1:20 (& state age group record). I didn't think I'd have it, but kept a steady pace. Hurt zone hit by 9 but I hung with some younger runners (well mostly just behind them) and kept pace to finish in 1:19:18.

Congrats on that State AG Record! Well done!

Mon. am. 6.2 km hill run 48 min. 230 m. elevation gain. pm. 57 min kayak on the lake in windy conditons.

Tue. pm. A rugged 24.5 km mtn bike ride in the Cobaw Forest. 1 hr 32 min 580 m. elevation gain. eve. 3.8 cold kms in the dark 23 mins. 60 metres of climb on the way out.

Wed. pm. 11.5 km run over Basin Hill 1 hr 10 min. 330 m. elevation gain.

Thu. pm. 5.5 hilly run from the lake 33 min. 120 m. elevation gain then into the kayak for a 40 min paddle.

Fri. pm. 24.5 km mtn bike in the local forests feeling jet lagged from night shift.

1 hr 27 min. 280 m. elevation gain.

eve. 6 km hike 59 min. 90 m. elevation gain wearing 15 kg weight vest.

Sat. pm. 34 km mtn bike 1hr 49 min. 480 m. elevation gain.

Sun. pm. 16.6 km hilly run 1 hr 39 min. 530 m elevation gain.

A pleasing week despite being extra tired from night shift.

I have upped the ante with auxiliary exercises over recent weeks and also been pretty full on with some gardening yard clearing. That caught up with me a little on friday and saturday. My hammies were tight ( in that good way). I think maybe because my usual warmup of step ups was done on a higher than usual bench at the lake Thursday. Amazing how going 10 cm higher has such an effect.